Last week I shared the first part of my trip to Hogwarts, aka the Warner Bros Studio Tour. Now, as promised, it’s time for part two! Firstly these images which didn’t want to work last time:
The pendulum was pretty hypnotic… and remember this??
It’s the Riddle gravestone, as featured in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After spending forever in the first area of the tour, we came to the outside bit – which of course meant Privet Drive, the Knight Bus and BUTTERBEER!
It was surprisingly tasty – it reminded me of Iron-Bru a little bit.
Privet Drive and the Potters’ house in Godric’s Hollow.
The next section of the tour was to do with ‘movie wizardry’ – anything to do with special effects, animatronics, CGI etc. For example, this selection of goblin heads and mandrake plants…
It was smaller than the first area, but there was once again just so much stuff that you wouldn’t notice on screen. It’s insane how much effort and dedication the people who worked on the films put in, considering that most of their work would barely be noticed. It just goes to show how truly passionate and enthusiastic everyone working on the Harry Potter films was.
Baby Thestral!; you go around the corner and ARAGOG IS HANGING ABOVE YOUR HEAD AAHH
Then it was onto the next part of the tour, another part in which I could have just stayed all day… Diagon Alley. When you watch the films you really don’t see enough of this place. There is so much stuff in EVERY shop window, and once again the set designers and prop creators and everyone else went above and beyond to create this amazing set.
Gringotts; a shop I don’t even remember seeing once in the films but they made the shopfront and filled up the window anyway. Amazing!
Ollivander’s wand shop; Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment with Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes in the background.
Florian Fortescue’s to the left, including the table on the roof; Eeylops Owl Emporium, my dream shop.
I WANTED TO GO INTO FLOURISH & BOTT’S SO BADLY; Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes! I never even noticed that the man had a body before…
Fred or George, or both?; this was so cool, the ‘sick’ actually came out of her mouth (that sounds really weird out of context…)
Quality Quidditch Supplies, I don’t like the look of that Beater stick in the bottom left of the window…; loving the mannequins in Madam Malkins.
You too could own a Pygmy Puff or Kneazle!
Then it was onto the last area: concept art and scale models. If you’ve not looked at any Harry Potter concept art, then I strongly advise you to do so; there’s such an amazing array of different styles and interpretations, all of it absolutely stunning.
The architect that designed Hogwarts (does anyone remember seeing this statue in the films??); a paper Burrow!
Now, this next bit – which was also the final part of the tour – made me feel really emotional. It was beautifully set up – you walked into this dimly lit room, and there was a HUGE scale model of Hogwarts, with the main themes from the films playing in the background. It was pretty much the highlight of the experience for me, and brought on this massive rush of nostalgia. I wanted to shed a few tears there and then for this series that has, and always will have, so much meaning for me.
Can I buy a replica of this scale model please? Thanks.
The absolute last part of the tour (before the shop, of course) was the interior of Ollivanders – but each wand box had been individually labelled with the names of the cast and crew. It must have taken forever! It was, combined with the amazing tear-inducing Hogwarts scale model, a perfect way to finish the tour.
As for the shop… well we had every intention of going in and stocking up on some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, and maybe another souvenir or two. These plans were scuppered when we saw the price of them – £.7.95 a packet. Um. No. Everything in the shop was hideously expensive, which I suppose shouldn’t have been a surprise, so we actually didn’t buy anything… maybe next time, as we’ll be more prepared. The only disappointing part of an amazing day!
Rinn Reads 
Well I think everything in this post is what I would most like to see! Diagon Alley would be tops though, I would love to feel like I’m actually shopping there! Great recap Rinn! I was wondering too does the butterbeer have alcohol?
Diagon Alley was breathtaking. Not as big as you’d think it would be – it looks longer in the film, but I guess they cut away a bit for Gringotts exterior scenes.
And nope, it doesn’t. I did wonder if there’d be an alcoholic version, but no =( I always wondered that in the books/films – cos there’s one bit where Hermione seems to be a bit drunk. But they’re drinking it from the age of… 13, 14? I can’t remember. Which means they wouldn’t get served, as our drinking age is 18 unless you’re drinking with meal, and with parents, in which case it’s 16.
The gravestone looks amazingly creepy! Oh god, NO TO ARAGOG. I would have ran away. I would have definitely cried over the model of Hogwarts. TOO MUCH. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home. Goodbye.
Nooooooo that saying. That makes me want to cry too. I want to call Hogwarts home!
When I went to university I wanted it to be like Hogwarts. And it wasn’t. And then I was going to apply to Oxford for my Masters – of course, that didn’t have ANYTHING to do with the fact that it has Hogwarts style buildings and parts of the films were shot in various Oxford colleges. Not at all!
Yay, more cool stuff! 😀 I love the shops of Diagon Alley, with all the little details. You hardly get super close looks at them in films, but they still fill in the details and things. 🙂
Super great tour!
There were so many little objects and ornaments that they’d either spent time creating or hunting down in shops; the amount of detail is just breathtaking.
You were definitely smart not to get the beans! I did and I loved that I had the official one but half of it were the really horrible flavours which obviously I weren’t going to eat (although I do try some of them! Just horrid!) If I had more money to spare, I would have bought a wand.
AHHH BUTTERBEER! My goal is definitely to try it :3
I love that they did it that for all the cast and crew :3 Oh boy I would have loved to go into Flourish & Bott’s too :3 I have such a sweet tooth!
Ugh, sounds like a waste of money then =( The wands were the only thing that didn’t really shock me, I knew how much they cost already. They had some reeeeally nice jumpers for each of the houses but they were £75 each! Insane.
Yes! So yummy. It’s a shame you can’t buy some to take home… also, you can buy it in a plain disposable plastic cup, or pay slightly more and get a special Butterbeer cup to keep, or even more and get a little Butterbeer tankard!
Someone should open a Florian Fortescue’s somewhere, with ALL the ice cream flavours =o
I admire your self control in the shop!!
It IS expensive, yet I still spent a ton there because I couldn’t resist!
Only due to the crazy prices, and I’m trying to save for uni! If things had been cheaper, I would have gone mad and spent it all 😉
I love this!! It really does look magical and amazing. I didn’t even know there was an outside to tour. I like that the houses are life size and not just replicas.
Yep, there’s a small(ish) area with all the big scale sets. Plus a little seating and refreshment area, so you can stop halfway for lunch if you want 😉